1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for configuring a component in a communications network, such as a packet network, e.g., a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, telecommunications systems provide the ability for two or more people or machines (e.g., computerized or other electronic devices) to communicate with each other. A telecommunications system may include various networks for facilitating communication that may be generally organized into packet networks and circuit-switched networks. An exemplary circuit-switched network includes a plain old telephone system (POTS), such as the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Exemplary packet networks include internet protocol (IP) networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, frame-relay networks, and the like. One type of packet network is a voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) network.
Components in a packet network infrastructure, e.g., a VoIP network infrastructure, are typically shared across numerous applications. Media servers, for example, may be required to support voice mail services, network announcements, and conferencing applications. These various applications possess different requirements for availability and reliability, and therefore place varying demands on a network component. Consequently, a network provider may desire to ensure that certain high availability applications and services are fully supported by the network regardless of network traffic conditions or demands.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a more effective method and apparatus for configuring a component to ensure that selected network applications and servers are supported.